OSHA Regulation 29 CFR 1926.201(a)(4) states, "Flagmen shall be provided with and shall wear a red or orange warning garment while flagging. Warning garments worn at night shall be of reflectorized material." Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Publication No. 203, Section 203.122(b)(2) contains similar specifications.
A known way of meeting these regulations and, in general, of meeting the need to provide any workers around traffic with increased visibility is through the use of reflectorized vests. An example of such vests is shown in FIG. 1. Vest 10 is formed basically of a plastic, orange-colored, mesh material 12. The cut edges of mesh material 12 are enclosed by a binding material 14, which can be of cloth or plastic tape. The two front panels 16a and b are held in place relative to the back panel 18 by elastic bands 20a and b. Two reflectorized, or retroreflective, strips 22a and b are sewn in place vertically on the outside of the front panels, over the shoulder, and down the outside of the back panel. As viewed in FIG. 1, the strips 22a and b on the back panel are behind the mesh material 12, and this has been indicated by showing the mesh texture superimposed on the strips at the bottom of the drawing. Interlocking fiber fabric straps 24a and b, such as VELCRO straps manufactured by Velcro USA, Inc., of Manchester, N.H., provide for the joining of the front panels together.
I have determined that safety vests like that shown in FIG. 1 have a number of disadvantages, including the following:
1. The current vest is uncomfortable to wear. For instance, particularly in tree cutting, the binding, if cloth, will pill and fray as it wears, due to scraping against bark and brush, or, if plastic, it even cracks. This leads to its rubbing against the back of your neck, causing a dangerous distraction from the job you are performing, for instance operating a chain saw.
2. The current vest can easily be lost by an employee, causing the company additional expenses in replacement.
3. The employee can simply choose not to wear the current vest.
4. The current vests can even be the cause of serious accidents. They snag as one walks through brush or other protruding obstacles, and can get caught in moving equipment or tools, as they fit loose on the body. They have added problems with elastic bands or ties and Velcro connectors. For instance, any of these can also snag and tear loose, enabling the vest to billow up in the wind and get in the line of vision.
5. The current vests are hot in warm weather, even though many of them are a mesh material. The plastic material forming the mesh becomes stiff and hard in cold weather.
6. The reflectorized strips tend to fall off the vest, because the mesh material of the vest will not hold the thread.
7. Constantly replacing these vests is a major expense to companies.